In this news alert:

Since the beginning of 2018, applicants for residence permits in Vienna must now submit a police clearance certificate from each country in which they have resided for more than six months, at any time in their lives.

So far, only Vienna has adopted this new guideline. All other regions – for the moment – are still requiring police clearance documents covering only the last two years.

However, in practice the Vienna immigration authorities may accept applications supported by police clearance certificates only from the applicant’s home country and the current country of residence, if different.

All police clearance certificates in support of residence permit applications in Austria must have been issued less than six months before the date of application submission, and may have to be legalized or apostilled, depending on the country of issuance.

Action Items

Residence permit applicants in Austria should consult an immigration specialist to check the latest requirements, depending on their region of application and their nationality.